After the two talked for a while and saw that Yu Nian was still groggy, Feng Chengyuan asked the kitchen to make a bowl of ginger fish soup.
He kept testing the bowl with the back of his hand. Only when the temperature was just right did he scoop up the soup with a spoon and bring it to Yu Nian's lips.
The night wind was cool. Feng Chengyuan carried Yu Nian on his back and walked a long way...
After the broadcast of the preliminary round of the metaphysics competition, it gained unprecedented popularity and sparked a heated discussion among netizens.
Some people thought it was a hype by the program team. They believed that the imperial green jade was pre - arranged to create momentum for the competition.
As soon as this remark was made, the comment section was flooded by many metaphysics enthusiasts and jewelry appraisers. The two groups quarreled fiercely.
Despite this, Yu Nian still gained a large number of loyal fans.
There was still a week until the semi - finals. Xue Yier returned to school to get his leave note.
On the way, he ran into a few classmates.
Song Zhihao saw Xue Yier and sneered: "Yo, isn't this Master Xue? You're so busy cultivating immortality, yet you still come to school?"
Xue Yier's face darkened: "I'm a Taoist priest. If you don't understand, don't talk nonsense."
Seeing the tense atmosphere between them, Kong Su quickly stepped in to smooth things over and said with a forced smile: "Stop arguing. Didn't we agree to go to the escape room? Young Master Xue, come with us. That escape room has been really popular recently!"
Xue Yier didn't attend a university specializing in metaphysics but an ordinary one. There were few people he could get along with, and due to his personality, he had only a few friends in college.
Kong Su was one of them.
Xue Yier's expression softened a bit, but he still wasn't interested.
"You guys go. I still have something to do."
He had to prepare for the semi - finals. He didn't have time to waste on an escape room.
Moreover, the things that seemed exciting to his peers were nothing to Xue Yier.
Song Zhihao didn't seem surprised by Xue Yier's reaction. Hearing this, he laughed even louder: "If Young Master Xue doesn't want to go, don't force him. What's his status? He's a well - known celestial master!"
Xue Yier's face completely darkened. He flung his coat to the ground, scoffed, and said: "Fine, today I'll go with you guys. Let you see what a real celestial master is! Whoever doesn't go is a grandson!"
The group walked in a grand manner to the door of the escape room store, but they were all stunned.
It was an extremely shabby storefront. Messy weeds grew wildly under the steps, as if it hadn't been taken care of for a long time.
A huge black billboard hung precariously above the door frame. The bright red words "Escape Room" exuded a sense of grief.
The door at the entrance of the store was wide open. Xue Yier peeked inside tentatively but only saw darkness, which gave people an indescribable sense of eeriness.
Xue Yier twitched the corner of his mouth: "This is the so - called extremely popular store you were talking about?"
It was more like a haunted house!
The location was chosen by Song Zhihao. He was a bit scared at this moment, but he was too proud to admit it. So he said stubbornly: "You don't understand. This kind of decoration is to create an atmosphere. Xue Yier, stop talking nonsense. Are you afraid to go in?"
Xue Yier snorted and strode in first.
Song Zhihao followed closely behind. But as he took a step, he heard a soft "patter" sound. A very sticky liquid dripped on his head. He immediately cursed.
"Damn it, what is this?"
Kong Su looked up in confusion: "I don't see anything. It should be the rainwater that gathered on the roof the other day."
"Really..." Song Zhihao looked around suspiciously, feeling a chill run down his spine.
When everyone walked into the store, they saw a woman in white sitting at the front desk at a glance. Her long hair was loose and hung down to her abdomen, covering most of her face.
The woman was hidden in the shadow, making it hard to distinguish her appearance and age. One could only see her pitch - black eyes.
Xue Yier pursed his lips. As a celestial master, his intuition told him that there was something wrong with this store.
So he whispered to Song Zhihao: "Why did you choose this store? What's so special about it?"
Song Zhihao stared nervously at the woman in front of him and stammered: "I heard that the owner of this store is very rich. All the props in the store are things that were once haunted. He collected them from all over the place... And there was a clerk here. He was in good health, but after working two night shifts, he suddenly had a mental problem and jumped off a building and died..."
Xue Yier cursed under his breath. He thought the store owner was really sinister!
He pulled Kong Su beside him and calmly backed towards the door: "Suddenly remembered that we haven't finished our homework yet. Let's come to the escape room another day."
Song Zhihao immediately understood and echoed: "Yes, let's go first."
Kong Su was stunned: "School hasn't started yet. Where do we have homework?"
Xue Yier glared at Kong Su fiercely and dragged him to the door.
But before the three of them could step out of the door, the room instantly darkened. An irresistible force pulled them back.
Xue Yier was shocked and saw the woman on the seat slowly stand up.
She didn't open her mouth, but her voice clearly spread throughout the room.
"Why are you running away? Don't you want to play the escape room?"
Song Zhihao was about to pee his pants out of fear.
Xue Yier's eyes turned cold. He took out a talisman paper and was about to throw it at the woman.
But the woman dodged quickly. After easily avoiding it, she pressed the three of them firmly on the chairs and mechanically repeated a few words.
"Four more people are needed. Do you want to play the escape room?"
...
In the Qingxin Temple, Yu Nian filled a porcelain basin with clear water. Then she took out an incense burner and a vermilion talisman paper from her bag.
Although she had won the preliminary round, there was still one thing she didn't understand.
Who sent the hanging ghost? And who was the person behind it targeting?
Yu Nian recited a few incantations, lit the vermilion talisman paper, and put the incense ash into the water. Soon, a place name slowly appeared on the water surface.
"No. 22 Huangquan Road?"
Liu Mo lay on the chair and stuck out his tongue when he heard this: "What a bad name!"
When the people from the Qingxin Temple arrived at No. 22 Huangquan Road, it started to drizzle.
Yu Nian stared at the escape room store in front of her and frowned slightly.
"The aura here is very turbid."
Maybe the person she was looking for was here.
The moment Yu Nian, Feng Chengyuan and the others entered the store, the door automatically closed tightly, not letting in a single ray of light.
The entire hall was empty. The only thing they could see was a girl in white sitting silently with her head down at the front desk.
He Zhiping shivered: "Is she... a human or a ghost?"
Yu Nian stared at the girl for a while and said calmly: "Neither."